Need Help with Itinerary- HAL or Princess

[Casey2]

We are considering a partial transit out of Fort Lauderdale on either the Coral Princess or HAL- Volendam. The itineraries are slightly different. Princess goes to Aruba, Cartegena, Puerto Limon and Ocho Rios and HAL goes to Aruba, Curacao, Puerto Limon and Half Moon Cay in addition to the Panama Canal. We are ooking at either an inside cabin or an oceanview. I heard that the cabins are larger on HAL. Any feedback on these 2 itineraries would be greatly appreciated.

[mycruz]

We sailed the Coral Princess in November and loved it! Have never sailed HAL but can tell you we have sailed twice on the Coral and have had a great time on both trips. Both times we had a mini suite which we loved. Especially while sailing through the locks in Panama. The only time we've booked a balcony was when we have a port intensive itinerary, the mini suite gives us much more room than a balcony cabin. We particulary enjoyed Costa Rica, it was our favorite port after the Canal by Boat excursion in Panama.

[LFM]

We haven't cruised on the Coral Princess, but we did Alaska on the Sun Princess and just loved it. That being said, for March, we are going on the HAL Volendam - a few reasons - we don't want to go back to Ochos again, the cabins are larger on HAL and from reviews, it seems that the food and service is better. We'll see what happens.

[boards]

I cannot as yet comment on the itinerary of either ship, however I can comment of the inside cabin or outside cabin of Hal ships. We have been on the Zaandam (outside), Veendam and Statendam (inside) and will be on the Amsterdam Apr. 30 in an inside cabin. They are a nice size and we have no problem moving around in the cabin. There is lots of storage space. The outside cabin has a larger couch than the inside one, which accounts for the extra sq ft 197 to 182.

We are very comfortable in either one.